ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s army chief named a general considered a hawk in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban to head the country’s powerful spy agency, asserting his control at a time of U.S. concern that rogue operatives are aiding Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha oversaw military offensives against militants in the lawless border regions with Afghanistan in his most recent job as director general of military operations.
His appointment as head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, the country’s main spy agency, was part of a broader shake-up of army top brass announced late Monday by military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
The moves were seen as a bid by the reform- minded general to revive the prestige of Pakistan’s armed forces and assert control over the spy agency following the downfall of ex-President Pervez Musharraf in August.
Pasha, who commanded U.N. troops in Sierra Leone in 2001-02 and was appointed by the world body as an adviser on peacekeeping operations last year, replaces Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj, a close aide to Musharraf.
The spy agency has helped kill or capture several top al-Qaeda leaders since 2001, but there are lingering doubts about its loyalty, not least because its agents helped build up the Taliban in the 1990s.
U.S. intelligence agencies suspect rogue elements may still be giving Taliban militants sensitive information to aid in their growing insurgency in Afghanistan, even though officially Pakistan is a U.S. ally in fighting terrorism.
Some analysts say elements in the spy agency may want to retain the Taliban as potential assets against longtime rival India and believe Pakistan’s strategic interests are best served if Afghanistan remains a weak state.
India and Afghanistan — and reportedly the U.S. — suspect the ISI of involvement in the July 7 bombing outside India’s Embassy in Kabul, which killed more than 60 people. Pakistan denies the allegations.
Military analyst Ikram Sehgal said Pasha’s experience commanding operations in the border region “will act as a force multiplier for the Pakistan military to fight the Taliban.”
Asked whether he would likely follow a U.S. line, he said: “Pasha’s only leaning is pro-Pakistan. He is neither pro-West nor anti-West.”
